Seymour Krelbourn: The Early Years
by Samantha Sterling
Summary: Little Shop of Horrors Seymour's life before the musical takes place: his time in the Skid Row Home for Boys, his early days in Mushnik's shop, and his first impressions of Audrey.
1. In The Group Home

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: The characters of Seymour, Mr. Mushnik, and Audrey, as well as any other "Little Shop of Horrors" locations or characters that may be mentioned in this story belong to Roger Corman, Howard Ashman, and Alan Menken, not me.**

"Krelbourn, when I say stay in bed, I mean stay in bed!" shouted Mr. Harrison, the director of Skid Row Home for Boys. One of the most active boys there, ten year old Seymour Krelbourn, had been bouncing on top of his bed, which was strictly forbidden at the group home. Mr. Harrison grabbed Seymour's arm and yanked him down to a sitting position.

"If I have to tell you one more time, no breakfast for a week! Do you understand!" he shouted.

"Yes, sir." Seymour answered meekly. Grumbling. Mr. Harrison let go of Seymour's arm and glared at him as he slammed the bedroom door shut. Seymour's roommate, Jerry, snickered at him for he had been watching the whole thing from his bed.

"Ha ha, Harrison yelled at you again." he said, pointing and laughing at Seymour.

"Oh, shut up." Seymour said and flung his pillow at Jerry's head, which he promptly picked up and flung back at Seymour. Seymour wrapped his arms around the pillow and started sucking on his thumb, it was the closest thing he had to comfort in this horrible place he called home. How he longed to get out of here, to be with someone who cared for him, to have a place to actually call home.

"Hey Seymour, you okay?" Jerry asked, noticing Seymour staring off into space.

"No, I want out of this dump." Seymour said, still sucking on his thumb. Jerry could certainly sympathize, he too wanted out of the group home and to be with a real loving family just as much as Seymour did. Every night, both boys would dream of the families they would become a part of once they left the Skid Row Home for Boys.

"I want out of here too, and I think I speak for everyone else who lives in this place." Jerry said, pulling his blanket up to his chin. He slowly drifted off to sleep, while Seymour still cradled his pillow in his arms, hoping and praying for the day he would finally leave the home and be with a real family.


	2. Another Day There

Seymour stretched out his arms as he got out of bed the next day, as he always did. However, he did not greet the day with joy; he greeted it with dread as he knew the strict rules and regulations at the Skid Row Home for Boys made it impossible to enjoy life there. One rule that he especially hated was that his bed sheets had to be straight with absolutely no creases or lines in it whatsoever. If they were not, Mr. Harrison tore the sheets off the bed and made the boy remake it to his satisfaction. With Seymour, that happened almost every day, and he was extremely lucky on the few days that it did not happen.

Seymour and Jerry nervously held their breaths as Mr. Harrison very closely examined their bed sheets, giving the boys evil glares every few seconds. Finally he looked at both of them and grumbled "Allright, good enough for me. Now get into the cafeteria for breakfast."

The boys slowly made their way to the main cafeteria for their usual breakfast of unsweetened oatmeal. Not exactly the tastiest breakfast in the world, but they knew it was better than no food at all. After everyone ate, Mr. Harrison filed the 15 boys who lived in the home outside to the play yard, where he kept a very close eye on them to make sure no one tried to run away or pull any crazy stunts. Seymour sat on a bench next to the chain link fence surrounding the play yard, drawing circles in the sand with his shoe. Jerry and another boy named Alan came by and sat next to him.

"Hey Seymour, what do ya wanna do today?" Alan asked him.

Seymour looked up at him from drawing in the sand and said "Anything but sit here.", disappointed that the only swing set and seesaw in the play yard were occupied at the moment.

"Well, wanna walk around and talk about how horrible this place is like we always do?" Jerry asked him.

Seymour gave a weak smile and said "Sure, why not?" And so all three boys walked around the play yard, talking about how much they hated living here and what they would plan to do in their new lives outside of the group home.

They must have been talking longer than they thought they were, because suddenly the loud, obnoxious voice of Mr. Harrison was screaming at the boys to line up to come back inside the building for quiet time in their rooms. The rest of the day was pretty routine: quiet time in their rooms, lunch, more playtime outside, more quiet time, dinner, cleaning up the cafeteria, and being herded into their bedrooms for bedtime.

As soon as the bedroom lights went out, Seymour curled up underneath his blanket and squeezed his pillow for comfort, ready to dream about his new life outside of Skid Row Home for Boys. Little did he know his life would change, and it would change quicker that he had ever expected.


	3. Meeting Mr Mushnik

_Two weeks later_

Seymour, Alan, and Jerry were in the play yard during afternoon playtime. They were swinging on the swings, happy that they were finally available for their use. "This is great; we actually get to play during playtime for once." Seymour said happily.

"You said it, buddy" Alan said, playfully punching Seymour in the shoulder.

"Hey, shut up and listen to what Harrison is doing." Jerry said, pointing towards the doors to the play yard.

All three boys, in addition to the other children who were in the play yard, looked up and noticed Mr. Harrison talking to another, older gentleman. "So, you don't exactly want to adopt one of these boys. You want to bring one of them to help you with your business?" Mr. Harrison asked the man.

"Yes sir, I've needed some help around the shop. I personally feel a young, healthy, strong boy would be a good way to start that." the man said.

"Allright Mr. Mushnik. I'll let you hang around here for the remainder of playtime so you can decide which boy you want." Mr. Harrison said and stepped back to his usual spot by the doors.

Mr. Mushnik walked around the yard, stopping occasionally to chat with the boys and ask them questions about their lives in the group home. Eventually, he made his way over to the swing set where Seymour and his friends were still playing. "Hey kids, can I talk to you?" he asked them.

"Oh yes, sir." Alan said, remembering his manners.

Mr. Mushink took a seat on a nearby bench and asked the three "So, which one of you has been here the longest?"

Alan and Jerry immediately turned and looked at Seymour, for he had been at the Skid Row Home for Boys longer than they had. Now that he had been put on the spot, Seymour meekly spoke up and said "Uh, that's me sir. I've lived here for five years."

"And what about you two?" Mushink asked Alan and Jerry.

"I've lived here for three years, Jerry here has lived here for only one year." said Alan, pointing to himself and then to Jerry.

This was a hard decision for Mr. Mushink to make, all the boys he had spoken to seemed to be fit for helping him run his florist shop. Some he felt more sorry for than others, complicating his decision even more. He stepped quietly away to think about which boy he wanted to bring home with him and to give a normal life. He thought hard for a good 15 minutes before making his decision.

"Harrison, I know who I want." he finally said.

"Allright, who's it gonna be?" Mr. Harrison asked, eyeing the crowd of boys in the play yard.

"That kid over there." Mr. Mushnik said, pointing at Seymour.

"What! You want Seymour!" Mr. Harrison asked in shock, not believing anyone would want to take someone as troublesome and active as Seymour Krelbourn.

Mushink gave Mr. Harrison a hard stare and said "Yes, I want Seymour. I think he'll be perfect as a worker in my shop."

Not believing what he heard, Mr. Harrison grudgingly led Mr. Mushink out of the play yard and into his office to fill out the necessary forms that would let him be Seymour's legal guardian.

Seymour, on the other hand, stood there in amazement. All these years of dreaming and praying that he would leave this place had finally come true. He was leaving the Skid Row Home for Boys and going to live with someone who seemed to want him, to want to care for him, and who wanted to give him a good home. He was happier than he had ever been in a long time. He was getting a home!


	4. Finally, A Home

_Two weeks later_

Seymour had to wait a while for the necessary papers to go through that would allow him to live with Mr. Mushnik, but the wait was worth it. As he stood in his room packing a small suitcase, he thought about all the wonderful times he would have living in his new home. Jerry stood off to the side, watching his friend get ready to leave.

"Hey, I'm sure gonna miss you." Jerry said while playing with his blanket.

"Oh really? What exactly will you miss about me once I'm gone?" Seymour asked him.

"You know, the times where we would complain about this place, the times where we would talk about our new homes, and our nighttime chats before bed. The usual stuff, ya know what I mean?" Jerry asked.

"Oh yeah, right. I'll miss those times too." Seymour said, closing his suitcase and locking it up. A part of him felt sad about leaving the Skid Row Home for Boys, it had been his only home for the past 5 years of his life. Plus he had Alan and Jerry as his best friends here, and he always enjoyed their times where they would complain about life here. He was certainly happy to be leaving this group home, but he also felt sad about leaving behind his friends here. They had been like some sort of makeshift family to him. As he sat on the bed, thinking about how he was feeling, his thoughts were soon interrupted by Mr. Mushnik arriving at the doorway of the bedroom.

"Hey Krelbourn, I'm ready to go. What about you?" he asked, sounding impatient.

Seymour looked at Jerry, then back at Mr. Mushnik. With a sad sigh, he said "Yes, sir. I'm ready to go home."

"Then come on, kid. My car's waiting outside." Mr. Mushnik said.

Seymour slowly made his way out of the bedroom, glancing back at Jerry. Jerry followed them to the front door of the group home and peered through the window with the other boys as Seymour and Mr. Mushink walked outside and got into Mr. Mushnik's black car. As soon as they heard the car start up, all the boys waved bye to Seymour, feeling jealous that he was leaving and they weren't.

Seymour, meanwhile, looked out the car window as it pulled away and waved as he shouted "Bye everyone. I'll miss you."

"Hey Seymour, that's your old life now. Your new life is with me and my flower shop." Mushnik said.

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to see it." Seymour said excitedly.

"I'll give you a tour of the place when we arrive, how's that sound?" Mushnik asked him.

"Sounds great, sir." Seymour said. He couldn't wait to see what his new home would look like and wondered if he would like living in a flower shop.


	5. Orientation To Mushnik's Flower Shop

It took a good 15 minutes to drive from the Skid Row Home for Boys to the flower shop, and Seymour was looking out the car window the whole way there. He was wondering what the shop would look like and if it was in a better area of town than the group home was. But as he continued to see crummy apartment buildings, bums on the streets, old rusty cars, and ancient looking businesses, he realized this would not be the case. He did take comfort in knowing that he was at least out of the group home and maybe life in a florist shop wouldn't be so bad.

His thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Mushnik saying "Hey Seymour, we're here already. Get out of the car and get moving."

Seymour turned around and looked at the building Mr. Mushnik was talking about. It was a small store with the words "Mushnik's Flower Shop" painted in the window in peeling paint. There was a small arrangement of flowers in the window, mainly daffodils and roses. As he stepped out of the car with his suitcase in his hand, Seymour could not believe this tiny shop was his new home.

"Sir, this shop is so small. And you have no customers either." he said.

"Krelbourn, I just started this business six months ago. It ain't no big department store, believe me. But I believe business will be booming someday." Mushnik said with a slight lopsided smile on his face.

"You think so, sir?" Seymour asked.

"Yes Krelbourn, I think so. Now get inside so I can show you around the place." Mushnik snapped impatiently, and Seymour immediately made his way inside the shop.

What Seymour saw next was even more surprising: There were hardly any flowers or plants on display in the store at all. Noticing Seymour's quizzical look, Mushnik said "Oh yeah, about the plants. Most of them are in the back cooler so they stay fresh."

"Oh, ok sir." Seymour said.

Mushnik then spent the next 15 minutes showing Seymour around the tiny shop. He showed him the cash register, the back cooler, the room where the floral arrangements were done, and the storage closet. The last stop on the tour was the basement of the building. There Seymour saw a small bed, dresser, and an old radio.

"What's this?" he asked Mr. Mushnik.

"This, Krelbourn, is where you'll be sleeping from now on. The bathroom is over in that corner, in case you're wondering. And I'll be taking your dirty clothes back to my apartment once a week for cleaning. Got it?" Mr. Mushink told him.

"Got it, sir." Seymour said meekly. Even though this wasn't the Ritz Hotel, at least it was better than nothing.

Mr. Mushnik began making his way up the stairs, and when he got to the top he suddenly turned around and looked at Seymour like he forgot to tell him something.

"By the way Seymour, I live in the apartment just above this shop. So if there's an emergency in the middle of the night or something, you know where to find me." he said.

"Yes sir, thank you sir." Seymour said and Mr. Mushnik disappeared into the shop as he called back "You start work tomorrow, kid."

Seymour laid down on his bed and kicked off his shoes. He was disappointed that he did not leave Skid Row, but happy that he had a new home. He wondered what his first day of work tomorrow would bring him and if it was worth leaving the Skid Row Home for Boys or not.


	6. First Day On The Job

The next morning, Seymour woke up to the sound of Mr. Mushnik yelling for him to get out of bed and get upstairs into the shop now. He pushed his blankets off and leapt out of the bed as he quickly change out of his pajamas and into his regular clothes. As soon as he got his shoes on, Mr. Mushnik appeared at the top of the stairs with a look on his face that told Seymour he better get upstairs this very minute.

Seymour bolted up the stairs and said "Sorry, sir. I was getting ready, that's all."

"Yeah, whatever Krelbourn. Now this is your first day of work here, and I expect you to be on your best behavior. You understand that?" Mushnik asked him.

"Yes I do, sir." Seymour declared with confidence.

Mushnik rolled his eyes at Seymour's behavior and continued on with his speech by saying "When the customers come in here, greet them with a friendly, courteous manner. Offer them assistance when needed. And don't forget to give them the correct change after they've made their purchases, got it?"

"Got it." Seymour said.

"Allright, I'll go upstairs and bring you a small breakfast. You wait down here for the customers and remember what I told you." Mushnik said as he headed for the stairs up to his apartment.

Seymour, meanwhile, sat on the small stool behind the cash register counter nervously. Being only ten years old, he wasn't sure he could properly serve a customer in this store. But being a talkative kid at times as well, he was more than willing to try his best.

He got his chance when the first customer of the day, an elderly woman, walked in the door. She walked up to the counter and say "Hey, little boy. Can you help me?"

"Yes ma'am." Seymour said as he straightened up in the stool.

"I want to purchase some roses for my husband as an anniversary present. Can you get me some?" she said.

"I'll get them for you, ma'am." Seymour said and then he headed for the cooler in the back room Mr. Mushnik told him about. Thankfully when he opened the doors, there were some roses in there. He selected a small assortment of red and white roses, then looked around for something he could wrap them in. He noticed a piece of white tissue paper lying on a table, and he quickly wrapped the flowers up.

"Here, ma'am. I hope you like these." he said as he presented the flower to the woman.

"Oh young man, my husband will love these." the woman said as she admired the bouquet Seymour had given her.

"That will cost $10, ma'am." Seymour told her.

"Ok, little boy. Here's $20, and keep the change. Your shop looks like it could use the extra cash." she said and walked out. Seymour was speechless, he didn't even have to make change for his first customer. He thought working here was easier than he originally hoped it would be.

Mr. Mushnik suddenly appeared in the store, carrying a glass of orange juice and a plate with a piece of toast on it. "So Krelbourn, any sales yet?" he asked Seymour.

"Yes, Mr. Mushnik. A lady came in and bought $10 worth of roses." Seymour told him.

"And did you give her any change?" Mr. Mushnik asked, eyeing Seymour suspiciously.

"Didn't have to, she told me to keep the change." Seymour said as he handed Mr. Mushnik the $20 bill he had been given.

Mr. Mushnik looked like he had died and gone to heaven as he looked at the bill. He held it upwards and exclaimed "There is a God!"

Seymour just ignored that comment as he nibbled on his toast. He was rather proud of himself for making his first sale so successfully. Unfortunately, the rest of the day did not go as well. Counting the elderly woman, the shop had a total of 4 customers that day. Considering the fact that the store was open from 8 in the morning until 6 that evening, it was terrible business. It showed on Mr. Mushnik's face as he and Seymour closed up the shop that night.

"Another horrible day of business, when will my luck ever change?" Mushnik groaned as he locked the front door.

"I think it will someday sir. You just have to wait." Seymour told him.

"Yeah, it'll take a miracle from up above to get business booming. But that'll never happen." Mushnik said as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. Secretly he wished for the day the one thing happened that would cause this shop to grow and expand and attract business.


	7. Eleven Years Later

Eleven years had gone by since Seymour had first arrived at Mushnik's flower shop. Now that Seymour was an adult, Mushnik had moved into an apartment about two blocks away from the shop to give Seymour a little more independence. However, Seymour still had to deal with Mushnik's constant berating every time they worked together in the store. And business was still not going well, which caused them to struggle to make ends meet.

"God, when will my luck ever change?" Mushnik complained in his usual daily ranting of how bad his life was.

"Sir, you just have to think positive. Something will come around." Seymour said, trying to encourage him.

"Krelbourn, let me remind you of something. I've run this store for almost 12 years in the most run down area of Manhattan. Business has been not exactly on the upside for all those 12 years as well. Now, do you honestly think that after 12 years of running a flower shop in Skid Row that doesn't bring in the dough, something will look up!" Mushnik said with rising frustration in his voice.

"Um, well maybe it might-." Seymour started to say but Mushnik cut him off with yet another one of his rants.

"Might what? Might what, Krelbourn! Yeah, this job somehow manages to help me make ends me, although I barely get by some times. But I can't do anything else with my life, so all I can do is run this place and pray every day that something will change. Maybe nothing will happen, but I can dream it will happen." Mushnik ranted.

"At least you dream about good business, which sounds like a good idea to me." Seymour said meekly, hoping to avoid more of the rants.

"Yeah, well what else can you do but dream in Skid Row? Very rarely does an opportunity for a better life come around here." Mushnik said.

The two spend the remainder of the day hanging out in the shop and assisted any customers who came inside. They were surprised that they had about 20 people come in that day and purchase flowers or plants, so they were able to make a fair amount of money that day. Both were in surprisingly good moods as they closed up the shop at 6 p.m. that day.

"Today was actually a good day, don't you agree?" Seymour asked Mr. Mushnik as he wiped down the check out counter and cash register.

"Yes Krelbourn, one of the very few good days we get around here." Mushnik said as he watched Seymour tidy up. Then Mushnik suddenly got a look on his face like he thought of something brilliant.

"What are you thinking now, sir?" Seymour asked him

"You know Krelbourn, I've been thinking. Maybe what we need around here is more help." Mushnik said.

"Ok, how are we gonna get more help around here?" Seymour asked him curiously.

"It's simple, Krelbourn. I'm gonna place an ad in the paper for a new employee." Mushink said.

"Oh, ok. But do you think anyone would want to work here?" Seymour asked him.

"Krelbourn, in Skid Row anyone unemployed is desperate for a job even if it pays little dough. Someone will take this job, trust me." Mushnik said with delight. "Now I'm gonna go home and write the ad, it will be placed in the paper tomorrow. Goodnight Krelbourn, see you in the morning." Mushnik added as he walked out the door to go home.

Seymour walked downstairs to his basement bedroom, wondering if anyone really would answer the ad to work at the shop. All he could hope was that the person was nice and he or she would enjoy working at Mushnik's Skid Row Florist.


	8. Welcome, Audrey

_Two weeks later_

"I told you someone would answer my ad, Krelbourn." Mr. Mushnik said happily. He was right, for today the new employee of the flower shop was coming in for the first day of work there.

"And the person is coming today?" Seymour asked him as both he and Mushnik tidied up the shop a little to get it ready for opening at 8 a.m.

"Yes she is coming today, Krelbourn." Mushnik told him.

"She is coming today?" Seymour asked, sounding surprised that the new employee was a woman.

"Yes, she. When she gets here, I want you to show her around and explain how to work the register and ring up a sale. Got it?" Mushnik asked.

"Yes, sir." Seymour said.

Both men continued to work on getting the shop ready for about another 20 minutes. As they were finishing up, in walked a young woman who appeared to be about the same age as Seymour. She had short blonde hair that was a few inches above her shoulders. She wore an off the shoulder, sleeveless black dress and black spike heels. In addition to her "interesting wardrobe", the woman also wore bright red lipstick and pure black mascara.

"Excuse me, I'm new here." she said in a very tiny, high pitched voice.

"Ah yes, welcome Audrey. I'm Gravis Mushnik, the owner of this flower shop." Mr. Mushnik said and politely shook Audrey's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Mushnik." Audrey said as she shook his hand. She then glanced over at Seymour, who was standing behind the register with a "This is the new employee?" look on his face.

"Seymour, this is Audrey. She's the new employee here. Now, would you please show her around the place?" Mushnik said, sounding impatient.

That snapped Seymour out of the look and he said "Um, yes sir. Come on Audrey, I'll give you a tour of the shop."

"Oh, thank you Seymour." Audrey said.

Seymour basically gave Audrey the same tour Mushnik had given him eleven years ago when he first moved here. He showed Audrey the different areas of the shop, how to work the register, how to prepare a floral arrangement, and how to count change. It took a good 20 minutes to show Audrey around, but it was worth it.

"Thank you, Seymour." Audrey told him after he finished showing her around. "I really appreciate this."

"Oh…um…anytime, Audrey. If you need help on anything, just ask me or Mr. Mushnik." Seymour told her.

"Oh I will, Seymour." Audrey replied and she went into the back room to organize the flower cooler.

While she was doing this, Audrey was thinking about how nice and friendly Seymour had treated her. Barely anyone had treated her like this her whole life, considering that she didn't have the best childhood ever. Her father had left the family when she was only five, so it was just her and her mom. Her mom had been the only person other than Seymour who was nice to her, but now that her mom was dead Audrey had no one. She had already been in 3 relationships, but all had been abusive. She was lucky to be away from those men, and she vowed that the next relationship she would get into would work, no matter what happened.

Sure, Audrey thought Seymour was cute, funny, and polite. However, she just met him that day and didn't know how a relationship with him would work out. She was attracted to him, but at this point in time she truly felt she didn't deserve a relationship with a nice guy like Seymour. She felt that they would be better off being just friends for the time being.

Seymour felt the same way about Audrey too, but he didn't know about her past and she didn't know about his. So both of them kind of kept their immediate feelings for each other inside, not knowing how long they would have to do so.


	9. First Sign of Trouble

_2 years later_

The business situation still had not changed at Mushnik's Flower Shop, but he somehow managed to get by on the small income he made. Seymour and Audrey still had to deal with Mushink's constant raving and insults. Both of them had long grown used to hearing those sorts of things, and dealt with it the best they could.

And that's just what Seymour was dealing with yet again early one Thursday morning. It was about 12:30 p.m. and Audrey still had not arrived to work yet. She hadn't even called the store to tell Mushnik she would be late, which really made him angry.

"Where's that employee of mine!" Mushnik yelled out to himself.

"I don't know sir; I mean she hasn't even called in." Seymour said as he sat behind the counter.

"Well thank you for pointing out the obvious, Krelbourn." Mushnik said impatiently.

Just then, the bell above the front door rang and both men looked up to see Audrey come into the store.

"There you are. About time you showed up!" Mushnik snapped at Audrey.

"Oh sorry Mr. Mushnik, I was so busy at home I lost track of time." Audrey said as she went to hang up her coat in the back room.

"You live across the street, Audrey. The least you could have done is called me." Mushnik told her.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Mushnik. I really am." Audrey said, her back still turned to Mushnik and Seymour.

"Well, I'm telling you not to-." Mushnik started to say and stopped short as Audrey turned around. Seymour as well was shocked at what he saw. Both men noticed a large bruise on Audrey's right cheek. They hadn't noticed it when Audrey first came into the store as she had quickly rushed to hang up her coat, but now that they noticed it they were truly shocked.

"Audrey, what happened to your face?" Seymour asked.

"Oh…um…I tripped into my bed?" Audrey asked, but the men could tell by her tone of voice that she wasn't telling the truth.

"Audrey, what happened to your face?" Mushnik asked with insistence.

"Oh…I…uh…walked into the door?" Audrey said, but she could already tell Mushnik and Seymour didn't believe her.

"Audrey, I can tell you're not telling us the truth. Now who did this to you?" Mushnik demanded.

Audrey wrung her hands and slowly shifted her feet around on the floor, not comfortable with telling Mushnik and Seymour the truth. "Ok. It was my boyfriend." she said.

"What!" Seymour asked, sounding completely shocked.

"My boyfriend did this, I wouldn't get into bed with him so he slapped me and locked me in my bathroom for two hours this morning." she said. "Took me a while to collect myself after he let me out and left."

"Audrey, why didn't you try to escape?" Seymour asked.

"I was scared, plus I love him. He's the only man I have." Audrey insisted.

"How in the world can you love a man who slaps you around like that?" Mushnik asked in disbelief.

"He apologized afterwards; I know he didn't mean it." Audrey said.

"You didn't deserve this, Audrey. You need to find a man who treats you like a queen." Seymour told her.

"But he does, Seymour. Really he does. He buys me lots of nice things." Audrey said.

"He shouldn't have to buy your love, Audrey. Love should be unconditional without any type of abuse." Seymour said.

"I don't really wanna talk about this anymore." Audrey said and ducked into the back room.

Seymour and Mushnik shook their heads in disbelief as they went about what they had been doing before Audrey came in. They knew Audrey really didn't want to leave her apparently abusive boyfriend and they couldn't force her to do so, it was her choice alone. So the best they could do at the moment was be there for her whenever she needed it, and hope she would leave the relationship before things got too out of hand.


	10. More Abuse

It was the end of yet another customer free day in the flower shop. Audrey had gone home already, and Mushnik and Seymour were putting away the few flowers that had been in the display window.

"What a miserable excuse for a business this is." Mushnik complained.

"Then why keep it open, sir?" Seymour asked as he filled up a box with clay pots.

"Because, Krelbourn, this is the only way I can make some money in this dump called Skid Row." Mushnik said sharply.

"Well, okay. But I still think that one day this business will turn around." Seymour said.

"Yeah, and I'll win a million dollars in the lottery. Just go put those pots in the storage bin downstairs before you go to bed." Mushnik snapped.

"Ok, sir. See you tomorrow." Seymour said and headed downstairs with the pots in his hands.

Mushnik rolled his eyes as he put on his coat and locked the door to the shop. He walked down the street to his apartment, contemplating whether Seymour was right or not. Would the business turn around someday? Would he start making enough money to afford a better life in Skid Row? He knew it was highly unlikely that would ever happen, but he could always dream about it. That usually made him feel better.

He was about three buildings away from his apartment when he could hear a man yelling insults at someone. Curious, he leaned his head in the direction of the noise to hear it better.

"What the hell, you dumb slut! You're nothing but a brainless imbecile!" the man yelled.

"Sorry, Doctor. Sorry, Doctor. I didn't meant to lose the necklace you gave me back there." the woman pleaded and Mushnik realized in horror that the woman was Audrey and the man yelling at her was her abusive boyfriend.

Mushnik heard footsteps coming up the sidewalk behind him so he ducked into a nearby alley to avoid being seen. He peaked around the corner of the building and saw Audrey running up the sidewalk behind her boyfriend, who was a man dressed completely in black leather and had an Elvis-Presley type hairdo.

"I swear on this God ridden earth if you ever pull a stupid stunt like that again, I'll beat that sorry ass of yours so bad you'll be unable to sit for a month!" the man screamed as he grabbed Audrey by her arm and yanked her up to him.

"Yes, Orin—I mean Doctor. I'll never lose another present from you again." Audrey said as Orin pulled her right up to his face.

"You better mean it, Audrey." he said meanly right before he planted a big kiss on her lips and shoved her against the wall.

Orin leapt onto a nearby motorcycle, revved up the engine, and took off into the night. Audrey watched him drive down the street, panting and trying to catch her breath from what he had just done to her. Mushnik, who was still in the alley, slowly came out and tapped Audrey on the shoulder, which made her jump and scream before she realized who it was.

"Oh, Mr. Mushnik. It's only you, thank God." she said.

"Audrey, are you okay? Did he hurt you badly?" Mushnik asked, sounding very concerned for her.

"Oh no no, he didn't hurt me." Audrey said.

"Maybe not physically, but he hurt you verbally. That's not a healthy relationship, Audrey." Mushnik said.

"It's impossible to find healthy relationships in Skid Row. Besides, he just had a bad day at work. I honestly know he didn't mean it." Audrey said.

"Trust me, Audrey. You're not gonna last much longer with that sadist. You really need to leave." Mushnik demanded.

"But he's the only man I have right now. And besides, I'm scared of how he'll react if I tried to leave." Audrey said and started walking down the sidewalk to her apartment, which was right across the street from the flower shop.

Mushnik sighed; he knew he couldn't force Audrey to leave the relationship against her will. It was her own choice to leave or not. Still, he was deeply concerned about her safety and well-being, even though she could be annoying at times.


	11. Total Eclipse of the Sun

**(A/N: For those of you who have seen the musical, this is the scene that Seymour talks about in the song "Da Doo.")**

Since it was looking to be another customer free day in the shop, Mushnik decided to allow Seymour some free time to do as he pleased. So Seymour planned to do what he always did when he had free time: go to the wholesale flower district to shop for weird and strange plants to add to his collection. It was a good long walk to the flower district, but Seymour didn't care. In addition to purchasing plants there, he was also able to get in a little bit of exercise as well.

As he passed by the shops in the district, he was in awe at their big, beautiful displays. He wondered why Mushnik didn't have any displays like these, perhaps it was the key to bringing in business.

Soon, he arrived at his intended destination: Chang's Florist. The owner, Mr. Chang, knew Seymour on a first name basis since he came by so often and was always willing to lend him a hand in adding plants to his collection.

"Greetings, Seymour. How are we this wonderful day?" Mr. Chang asked Seymour, giving him a nice firm handshake.

"I'm doing quite well, Mr. Chang. Thank you for asking." Seymour replied.

"Well, I know why you're here. So why not look around my plants and see if anything catches your eye?" Mr. Chang asked.

"Sure thing." Seymour said and promptly began browsing through the many plants Mr. Chang had outside the shop. After about 20 minutes of looking around, Seymour unfortunately had not found anything weird or interesting to add to his plant collection.

"Sorry, Mr. Chang. I haven't found anything, but maybe better luck next time." Seymour told him.

"Very well, Seymour. I shall see you another day." Mr. Chang told him and Seymour walked down the sidewalk back home.

Seymour had gotten not even a block away from the shop when he realized the sky had suddenly gone completely dark. He looked down and realized he was casting a very dark shadow on the sidewalk and that the nearby streetlights had all gone on. Confused he looked towards the sky and was completely stunned as to what he was looking at, as well as the other people on the streets who were gazing up at the sky.

It was a total eclipse of the sun. The moon had moved in front of the sun, almost completely blocking it from lighting the Earth. There had been no prior predictions of this happening, so everyone was completely caught off guard and not expecting this.

As Seymour stood looking up at the eclipse, he could hear an odd humming sound coming from behind him. Was this an alien invasion, he thought. If it was, then everyone was certainly justified in being nervous and shocked.

Almost as quickly as the eclipse came about, it passed and the light of the sun once again shone brightly. Seymour blinked his eyes in wonder, and then realized he should probably go see how Mr. Chang felt about this unexpected phenomenon. He turned around and made a beeline back for the florist shop.

The second he got there, what he noticed next was even more surprising. Right among the zinnias that were on display outside was a weird little plant. It looked somewhat like a Venus flytrap, but with a bigger, different shaped mouth. Seymour swore that this plant had not been there on the display stand before, so he called over Mr. Chang to ask him about it.

"Mr. Chang, where did this strange little plant come from?" Seymour asked him.

"I don't know, Seymour. But if you want it, I will gladly sell it to you." Mr. Chang said.

"Really? Thank you, sir. I think this will be a great addition to my plant collection. How much does it cost?" Seymour asked.

"Just $1.95." Mr. Chang said and held out his hand for the money, which Seymour took from his pocket and promptly gave him.

"Thanks for the plant, Mr. Chang." Seymour said and waved goodbye as he walked down the street back towards Mushnik's shop. He was so excited to show this little plant to Mushnik and Audrey and see what they thought of it. Such a weird little plant it was, even if he had no idea where it came from. It was a dream addition to his collection of weird and exotic plants.


	12. Strange and Interesting Plant

Seymour was quickly making his way back to Mushnik's shop with the strange plant, eager to show it off to Mushnik and Audrey. He soon arrived in the section of Skid Row were the shop was located. As he walked onto the block where the shop was, he walked into a group of three girls who he always saw hanging around this area of town.

"Hey, Seymour. How you doing today, kid?" one of the girls asked him.

"Oh, just fine Crystal. Just fine. And yourself?" he asked her.

"Me and my girls here are doing okay." Crystal said. Then she noticed the plant Seymour was carrying and exclaimed "Hey, what's this you've got here?"

"This is a new plant I bought in the wholesale flower district today." Seymour said proudly.

"A brand new plant? You hear that, Chiffon and Ronnette? The kid's got a brand new plant." Crystal said to the other two girls who were with her.

"You know what type of plant this is?" Ronnette asked.

"I'm not sure, I'll have to look it up in my books." Seymour said.

"You go do that, kid. I'm sure whatever type of plant that is, it'll be very interesting." Chiffon said.

"Allright, girls. I'll see you around later." Seymour told them and stepped inside the shop.

Not surprisingly, there were no customers in sight that day. In fact, Mushnik wasn't even in the shop at the moment. Audrey was the only one in there other than Seymour and she was leaning against the check out counter, looking completely bored out of her mind. But when she looked up and saw Seymour enter the shop, she immediately smiled as she was always happy to see her friend.

"Oh hi, Seymour. How are you today?" she asked him.

"Just great, Audrey. Hey, guess what I found today?" he asked.

"What did you find?" she asked him.

"This right here." Seymour said to Audrey and held out the plant he found in the flower district.

"Oh my! What type of plant is that?" Audrey asked with amazement.

"I have no idea, but I'm gonna look in my books to see if I can find out. Hey, where's Mushnik? I want to show this plant to him." Seymour said.

"Oh, he ran home for a minute. He'll be back soon." Audrey said.

"Never mind then, I guess I can take care of this plant for a while until I feel I can show it to him." Seymour said.

"Ok Seymour, I hope Mr. Mushnik likes this plant." Audrey said.

"I do too." Seymour said as he ran down the stairs to his basement to start his research. Little did anyone know that this strange and interesting plant that he had discovered would lead them on a very extraordinary adventure.

**THE END**

**(A/N: For those of you who have seen the musical, you know the rest of the story. If you have not seen the musical, I suggest you either see it on stage or rent the movie "Little Shop of Horrors" starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, and Steve Martin. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed this story, your comments were much appreciated.)**


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